In a modern trend, laundry appliances are taking on a more visually prominent role in the home, serving as statement pieces reflecting individual style. Consequently, the aesthetics of the laundry appliance is an important factor in the design of a laundry appliance and its components. Relatedly, greater emphasis is being placed on the “look and feel” of the operation features of laundry appliances. The access door of the laundry appliance is just such a feature, which is also very visually prominent.
Co-pending commonly owned U.S. application Ser. No. 11/944,032, filed Nov. 21, 2007, and titled “Laundry Appliance Over-Molded Metal Porthole Door Frame,” incorporated by reference in its entirety herein, discloses a multi-component laundry appliance door assembly suitable for use with front-load washers and dryers. The door assembly includes an inner frame, an outer frame, an interior window mounted between the inner and outer frame, and an exterior window pane, that can be used to provide a sleek and uncluttered, contemporary appearance. A hinge is mounted to one side of the door assembly and a latch is mounted to the opposite side of the door assembly. The portions of the door assembly visible from the exterior of the laundry appliance, i.e., the exterior window pane and the outer frame could be formed identically for the dryer and for the washer, thereby providing aesthetically pleasing and matching exteriors of the dryer door assembly and the washer door assembly.
Limited use has been made of push-push latch mechanisms in door assemblies for laundry appliances. U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,572 discloses a laundry appliance of the top load variety that can be opened by a person pushing on the door to release a push-push latch. Push-push door assemblies can be used to aesthetically pleasing effect, in that the exterior surface of the door need not be encumbered with operation hardware. This may lead, however, to confusion on the part of users regarding the manner in which the door is to be opened, especially if the hinge and latch locations of the door are subject to change, such as is the case with the door assembly described in aforementioned U.S. application Ser. No. 11/944,032.
The capability to switch a front-load laundry appliance door from a left-opening door (i.e., a door with the hinge on the right and the latch on the left) to a right-opening door (i.e., a door with the hinge on the left and the latch on the right) is an advantageous feature that is generally known. Such interchangeably mountable doors allow the consumer to provide the best opening set up for their specific washer/dryer configuration. However, such interchangeability can exacerbate the potential for user confusion if the appliance door employs a push-push mechanism and is provided with a sleek, unencumbered exterior surface. A press on the wrong side (e.g., the hinge side) of the door may be ineffective to open the door or require excessive force. In such a situation, a consumer may appreciate having an indication as to the optimal location to push to open the door. A simple mark, such as a decal, embossment or adhesively applied button or the like could be used, except that such an arrangement may detract from the aesthetics of the appliance and may not have the durability to last, especially given the potential for exposure to chemicals that may be used in conjunction with a laundry washer.
Thus, an appliance door assembly that would facilitate the use of a push-to-open, push-to-close latch by providing a robust indication to a user as to where to push to open the door, while at the same time permitting a sleek, unencumbered, aesthetically-pleasing look to be achieved through the use of the push-push mechanism, would be highly beneficial. Additional substantial benefit would be realized by a configuration facilitating ready interchangeability of the indicator depending upon the selected interchangeable positions of the hinge and latch of the door.